


Skye's Sister

by the_girl_in_the_flower_dress



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 2x17, AU, Afterlife, Foreshadowing, Inhumans (Marvel), Intrigue, Season/Series 02, Sisters, Skye | Daisy Johnson's Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 11:55:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14401635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_girl_in_the_flower_dress/pseuds/the_girl_in_the_flower_dress
Summary: Skye has recently discovered that Jiaying is her mother, and she has new powers to come to to terms with, as well as handling a tricky relationship with her father. Now she has another member of the family to meet, but is Jiaying and everything at Afterlife as it first seemed?





	Skye's Sister

**Author's Note:**

> I know this doesn't fit with the S.H.I.E.L.D. timeline but I've always liked the idea of throwing another curveball into the mix in terms of Skye's family history, and Inhuman powers and personalities fascinate me! Here we see Jiaying's calm, benign mask slip a little, and Skye meets her younger sister for the first time

“Skye, there’s something else I should tell you.” Skye turned around and immediately looked on edge. “Oh no, don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. At least, I hope you don’t think so.” Jiaying smiled, pulling gently at her scars.

It had been a week since Jiaying had revealed that she was Skye’s mother. She had given her time to let the news sink in, and all it would mean for her. They had spoken for hours, getting to know each other, discussing things, been on the brink of arguing several times, but it had all needed saying.

It was something that would take Skye a long time to trust completely, and her emotions were all over the place; a bubble of happiness in her stomach at finding her family (even though it wasn’t what she had expected), crippling sadness that kept threatening to consume her at the childhood she could have had, confusion, anger, love. _Be grateful,_ she told herself. You have a mother who loves you, a family. She had spoken briefly to Cal about it, but didn’t really want to spend any more time with him than she had to. Not yet.

“Come and sit down, Skye.” She was hovering awkwardly outside the doorway, not sure what to do. “I don’t want to make you nervous.” Skye reluctantly sat down next to her mother, who took her hands in her own. “You know how much I love you, and how precious you are to me. Your father and I spent years trying to search for you, and it destroyed our humanity; accepting that you were gone, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Skye nodded, Jiaying had already told her this. “We were desperate, and had no happiness left in our lives. I founded Afterlife, to protect others like me and you. Gradually, my life started to improve, and Cal and I grew closer again. For a while, at least…but that’s not relevant now.” Jiaying smiled sadly.

“I know all this. And what you’ve done is incredible. I understand, you couldn’t keep looking for me and ruin your own lives.”

“Thank you, Skye. It means so much that you understand.” Jiaying took a deep breath in preparation for what she was about to say and continued. “So, a couple of years into Afterlife, I realised that I was pregnant again.” Skye didn’t reply. It wasn’t completely impossible or unlikely, of course, but it wasn’t what she had expected. Jiaying rushed forward. “Skye, I want you to understand this. It does not mean in any way that we replaced you, or forgot about you. The baby wasn’t even planned, though we were so happy to welcome a new life. Your father and I thought about you every single day, you never stopped being a part of our family, new baby or not.”

After a few moments, Skye replied. “Mom, I- I get it. Of course you deserved to be happy. Even if the baby _was_ planned, it’s not my place to hate you for it.” 

“But- but you do?”

“No! No, I don’t, that’s not what I meant.” Skye took a pause, trying to gather her thoughts. “I spent my childhood thinking that my family were either dead, or didn’t want me. In a way, I had accepted that, but I still kept looking for you; I needed closure. Our lives lead completely different paths until now. You had every right to do other things, and start again. I’m happy for you.” She finished.

“Truly?” Jiaying still looked concerned. “I don’t mind if you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset, it’s just come as a bit of a shock. But then again, so has everything.” Skye gave a weak smile. But then what really mattered dawned on her. _I have a little brother or sister!_ “Are they a girl or a boy? How old are they? Are they Inhuman too? Are they here?” So many questions poured into her head.

Happiness and relief flooded Jiaying’s face at Skye’s interest in her sibling. “Her name is Rose, like the flower.” Her voice softened. “We wanted her to have a connection to you, and not just by blood. It was your father’s idea.”

“Daisy and Rose.” Skye felt tears in her eyes. “That’s beautiful.”

“She’s fourteen years old, born on October 12th, and yes, she’s Inhuman. She’s already been through the mist, even though we wanted to wait until she was older. Rose has always been curious, and stumbled across the crystals when she was nine years old.” Jiaying sighed. “We couldn’t stop the transformation, so we just had to support her as much as we could, and still are.”

“What’s her gift?” Skye asked curiously.                                          

Jiaying hesitated. “She’s… unusual. It’s not something you might notice straight away. It’s not something as visible as Raina’s gift, for instance. Maybe it might have been different, had she had more time to be trained and taught about what it means to be an Inhuman… Her gift can be manipulative, but useful, charming, calming, at the same time. It’s difficult to explain if you haven’t experienced it first-hand.” 

“I don’t understand.” Skye said, confused. 

“How about you meet her first, her gift will make more sense once you’ve seen her. I don’t want you to judge her without making your own opinion first, and she’s desperate to meet you already. We brought her up to realise that you are part of her family, and finding you is what she’s always wanted.”

“Okay.” Skye was both intrigued and nervous, and excited about meeting her sister.

“I’ll fetch her. I doubt you’ll have seen her around Afterlife, we kept her out of the way; we didn’t want to make it difficult for her to pretend like I had to.” She said reproachfully. Jiaying kissed Skye’s forehead and left the room.

Once she was gone, there was nothing for Skye to do except pace the room and stare at the landscape outside, thinking about what on earth she would say or do. What if Rose didn’t want a sister, despite what Jiaying had said? She didn’t want to push in, fourteen years was a long time to be an only child…

“Skye.” She heard Jiaying come back in, and the sound of someone else’s soft footsteps too. She closed her eyes and took a breath, then turned to face them. Skye’s eyes widened as she looked at her sister, and her breath caught in her throat.

She was beautiful, there was no other way to describe her. She resembled Jiaying in almost every way, except from the scars missing from her perfectly smooth skin. She had flawless, tanned-looking skin, a little darker than Jiaying’s, and dainty features. Long, wavy brown hair was loosely braided down her back, a few strands falling round her face. She had beautiful, sloping almond eyes rimmed with a thin line of black, and an elegant, slim frame. But other things stood out to Skye too; the exact shade of Rose’s eyes that matched her own, the way she clasped her hands to conceal her nerves like she did, the same deep colour and texture of her hair. She was like Skye in some ways, but at a whole different level of beauty. She was stunning, angelic, yet there was a slight hard, cold expression in her eyes that began to set her on edge and made her feel wary.

Seeming to sense her unease, Rose blinked the expression away, and Skye immediately felt calmer, more emotional. This was her sister. All three of them were so alike, it was obvious.

“Daisy- sorry, Skye, this is Rose. Rose, Skye.” They both smiled a little shyly at each other.

“Hey.” Skye said. She held out her arms. “C’mere.”

Rose half-walked, half-skipped across the room and tentatively hugged her, before embracing her properly. Jiaying felt a wave of emotion and pride, and decided to leave them to it.    

 

\--------------

 

“Mom?” Skye asked. She joined her at the balcony overlooking the valley and mountains surrounding Afterlife.

“Hey.” Jiaying said. “How did it go?”

“Much better than I could have hoped.” Skye admitted. She had spent the whole afternoon talking to Rose, and she was overjoyed at having a sister. “She’s wonderful, so smart and funny, and charming, but-” Skye hesitated.

"What’s the matter?”

“I just- I just feel like there’s _something_ , I can’t put my finger on it… The way I feel when I’m around her…”                                                                                                

“It’s her gift.” Jiaying said, seriously. “Rose, she can control people’s emotions, or the atmosphere of a conversation, with her expression or voice, or just by pure willpower. It can be helpful if a person is feeling upset or angry, but manipulative and destructive too. It’s less powerful if she’s not meaning to do it, but if she wants something, it’s incredible difficult to resist, without really even realising it. I’m almost immune to it now, but I guess you felt it very strongly.”

Skye was quiet, deep in thought. “When I first saw her, I could sense something, in her eyes. Then when I was talking to her, and we were both at ease, I felt more comfortable and secure than I can ever remember feeling before… I don’t know… it’s so unusual, how do you know if you’re in control of what you say and do when you’re around her?” 

“Skye, think about what it can do, for us, and for Afterlife. People here often feel out of their depth and afraid, especially if they’ve just transformed. She can help so many people!”

“I know, I know, but- but isn’t it dangerous?” Skye said, unsurely.

“Dangerous? It’s incredible, powerful, we can get whatever we want and need! Rose can help us make Afterlife safe for all Inhumans, and keep away unwanted attention! Skye, look at it from our point of view!”

“I think Rose is amazing, I really do, and I can’t wait to spend more time with her, but isn’t that just using her?” Jiaying’s expression hardened, and Skye suddenly wished that she hadn’t said anything. “Rose is my daughter, she’s fourteen years old! Every Inhuman has a purpose in this world, their gift only helps them to achieve it. Rose is meant for great things, just like you, and we need to support and test her, and push her to see what she can do.” Jiaying’s eyes flashed, and Skye felt a brief moment of fear.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to offend you, I’m just new to this world and how it all works.” Her mother’s anger seemed to shrink, and she tenderly brushed a strand of hair over Skye’s shoulder.

“Of course. You fit in so well here that I forget you’ve only just arrived. You’re my first-born child and I’m going to help you as much as I can, but right now I’ve got to talk to Gordon about Raina. I’m sorry but I’ll see you later, Skye. We’ve got all the time in the world, after all.”

“I- ok, thanks Mom, I’m gonna go find Lincoln anyway.”

She walked away, feeling quite shaken and unnerved. Jiaying had just revealed a more ruthless side to herself that worried her. If S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about her prospects for Rose, it wouldn’t end well. She had made her seem more like a weapon than a child, as much as she’d tried to cover up her outburst. Skye had seen the power-hungry look in her eyes. For now, though, she decided to forget about it. Jiaying was probably just stressed; ensuring the safety of Afterlife and everyone who was a part of it, then finding her long-lost daughter, would be difficult for anyone to handle. She was enjoying spending time with Lincoln, and tried to relax a little. She was sure that she could soon make contact with her friends from S.H.I.E.L.D., and tried not to linger on the nagging feeling that the conversation with her mother had left her with.


End file.
